biography

[ bahy-og-ruh-fee, bee- ]
See synonyms for biography on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural bi·og·ra·phies.
  1. a written account of another person's life: the biography of Byron by Marchand.

  2. an account in biographical form of an organization, society, theater, animal, etc.

  1. such writings collectively.

  2. the writing of biography as an occupation or field of endeavor.

Origin of biography

1
From the Greek word biographía, dating back to 1675–85. See bio-, -graphy

Words Nearby biography

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use biography in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for biography

biography

/ (baɪˈɒɡrəfɪ) /


nounplural -phies
  1. an account of a person's life by another

  2. such accounts collectively

Derived forms of biography

  • biographer, noun
  • biographical (ˌbaɪəˈɡræfɪkəl) or archaic biographic, adjective
  • biographically, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for biography

biography

The story of someone's life. The Life of Samuel Johnson, by James Boswell, and Abraham Lincoln, by Carl Sandburg, are two noted biographies. The story of the writer's own life is an autobiography.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.